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UPDATE---Austin Sumner should throw himself onto the top of the Career Passing Yards list in the South Dakota State University record book this weekend. He needs 135 yards against Southern Illinois on Saturday to break the Jackrabbit record held by Ryan Berry. Sumner has thrown for at least 136 in his last 14 starts so the chances are very good he gets it done even if rain and cleats turn the Coughlin-Alumni Stadium field into a quagmire. Sumner is just a junior and has started for the Jacks since the 3rd game of his freshman season.

More below on how Sumner stacks up against Berry and Wahl and the others on the list as far as career starts... and where Sumner could end up all-time.

Original Post: 9/7/13

Austin Sumner had just thrown for 326 yards and 3 touchdowns… and by looking at and listening to the SDSU quarterback you would not be able to tell if the Jackrabbits had just beaten Butler 55-14 (they had) or had just lost at Northern Iowa (they did last year).

“Rusty in the first half… just fundamental stuff… real stupid stuff that I’ve got to fix to be better,” he said as softly and humbly as a star player can.

He is not soft.

He got in the weight room this summer and put on muscle, but he is listed ten pounds lighter (220) than he was last year. He played through last season with a thumb injury that we all know was worse than he ever let on, but something that he never did and never will use as an excuse for not throwing for 4,000 yards like a lot of people thought he should.

He is humble.

He is not going to tell you if he had a great game. He will tell you if he thinks he played crappy, but not in a way that gives you the impression he is getting down on himself. Just in the same way he kind of steps outside of himself and analyzes his performance after a great game… “a lot to improve on… can always get better…”.

Terrell Owens (“I loves me some me.”) would not be impressed by Sumner’s lack of self-congratulation.

Nonetheless… you gotta dig that laid-back but bulldog-competitive attitude from the guy who is most likely going to destroy the SDSU career passing yards record and make a serious run at the Missouri Valley Conference record, as well.

Then, only Ted Wahl (6,016) and Ryan Berry (6,023) are in front of Sumner. At a fairly conservative 200 yards per game, Sumner would become the Jacks all-time passing yards leader on Hobo Day (October 5) against Southern Illinois.

Granted, Sumner is the only QB on the SDSU list that started as a freshman. Today will be his 22nd career start. Berry had 25… Nelson and Rennerfeldt had 22. Not sure about Wahl because the stats I could find don’t go back that far. (I was at SDSU at that time in the late 80s when Wahl was slinging it, and I think he started for three years… in between Mike Busch and Shane Bouman.)

Anyway..… if Sumner only does in his second two years what he has done in his first two he would end up with 9,650 career yards… and beat the SDSU record by more than 3,500 yards.

And..… 9,650 would put him second on the Missouri Valley Conference all-time list. Matt Brown, who graduated last year from Illinois State (and had 45 career starts), is the top guy right now at 10,591 yards.